RCO Events Listings
Your RCO event details can be found below.
Please note that the 24-hour clock is used on all event listings, with all times being GMT/BST. To book courses and classes, please follow the Book Online link wherever you see it, and email bookings@rco.org.uk or call 020 3865 6998 with any queries. Where events are free or not bookable online, please follow the instructions for that event.
RCO Young Performers: Autumn 2026
Tuesday 15th September 2026 (13:00) – Tuesday 6th October 2026 (14:00)
St Lawrence Jewry, City of LondonThe RCO Young Performers Series returns to St Lawrence Jewry this autumn, offering talented young organists from RCO Accredited Institutions the opportunity to perform in the City of London.
All recitals begin at 1.00pm and are free to attend:
- Tuesday 15 September – City of London School
- Tuesday 22 September – Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet
- Tuesday 29 September – King Edward’s School, Witley
- Tuesday 6 October – Cheltenham Ladies’ College
Presented in memory of past RCO President Catherine Ennis and generously supported by John Higham KC, the series provides an important public platform for emerging performers.
Young Performers returns to St Mary-le-Bow in March, with details to follow in the New Year.
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A platform for rising stars
For every experienced organist, there was a nerve-wracking first public recital. The transition from student to performer is a vital step in any musician's development, and the Royal College of Organists' (RCO) Young Performers Series is designed to help make that journey both inspiring and rewarding.
Presented in memory of our past President Catherine Ennis, and generously supported by John Higham KC, this biannual free lunchtime recital series provides exceptional young musicians a platform to perform on two magnificent pipe organs (those of St Lawrence Jewry and St Mary-le-Bow) within the City of London, highlighting up-and-coming talent from RCO-accredited schools.
Usually held on Tuesday afternoons over three or four consecutive weeks in both March and September, RCO Young Performers offers participants the invaluable experience of preparing and presenting a piece of music - or sometimes a full concert programme - to a live audience—an experience that builds confidence, musical maturity and professional skills.
Established to encourage emerging talent, the Young Performers Series reflects the RCO's long-standing commitment to supporting young musicians. Participants are typically talented teenage organists from RCO Accredited Institutions, many of whom are already demonstrating exceptional promise. For these young musicians, the series provides an important stepping stone towards organ scholarships, conservatoire study and future professional careers.
Performers are able to explore repertoire, interpret music creatively and communicate with audiences, all while adapting to unfamiliar instruments and acoustics. These are skills that cannot be learned from practice alone, and are essential for anyone aspiring to become a confident recitalist or church musician, where one has to be on one's toes all the time and adapt to different situations quickly.
The benefits extend well beyond the concert platform. Preparing a recital encourages careful programme planning, disciplined practice and artistic decision-making. Performing in distinguished venues also enables young musicians to experience instruments of national significance, broadening both their technical understanding and appreciation of the organ's remarkable diversity. Many pupils who have performed at an RCO Young Performers concert have told us how different the organ was to the one they practise on at their school, and how they enjoyed being able to create different colours and textures with the wider variety of stops and mixtures.
As part of the Royal College of Organists' wider programme of education and outreach, the Young Performers Series demonstrates that nurturing talent is about more than technical excellence. It is about providing opportunities, building confidence and inspiring ambition. Every recital represents not just a personal milestone for an individual performer, but an investment in the future of one of Britain's richest musical traditions; it is always a privilege to hear these students playing as they start to realise their musical ambitions on the public stage.
